SA stocks flat, AngloGold recovers after slump
AngloGold Ashanti regained some of the losses posted this week triggered by a planned demerger.
JOHANNESBURG - South African shares ended flat on Friday, but AngloGold Ashanti regained some of the sharp losses posted this week triggered by a planned demerger and $2.1 billion rights issue.
Africa's top bullion producer ended 2.24 percent higher after falling over 14 percent on Wednesday and dipping further on Thursday after it announced a plan to split up its global and South African operations.
The stock could be in for a further rebound as its 14-day RSI - a momentum indicator tracked by some analysts - has now fallen deeply into oversold territory, according to Thomson Reuters data.
"AngloGold is recovering with some bargain hunting, some of the mining companies have come off dramatically," said Ferdi Heyneke, portfolio manager at Afrifocus Securities.
On the other side of the equation, Heyneke said profit-taking could be seen in shares such as wireless carrier MTN, which scaled record peaks this week as strong demand for its high-margin data services elsewhere in Africa offset slow voice growth at home.
Its shares fell 2.4 percent to 250.08 rand.
Sibanye Gold fell almost 4 percent at one point after the country's main mining union said it would oppose any job cuts at the bullion producer. Its shares then pared losses to end largely unchanged.
Confirming a Reuters report on Thursday, the company said it was starting talks with unions about possible job cuts at its Cooke 4 mine to boost profits and productivity.
The All-share index ended the day up 0.03 percent to 51,247 while the Top-40 index added 0.08 percent.
